Gregory Blaxland statue

Public Art: Gregory Blaxland statue

Sculptor: ©

Description: The sandstone carving of Gregory Blaxland (17th June 1778 – 1st January 1853), pioneer farmer and explorer, is one of 23 sandstone carved figures on the ledges of the Lands Department Building.

Date Unveiled: c1891

Location: The statue of Gregory Blaxland can be found in the niche on the Bent Street facade of the Department of Lands Building, Bridge Street, Sydney, Australia.

So who was Gregory Blaxland? : Gregory Blaxland (17th June 1778 – 1st January 1853) was a British man who ventured to Australia to make his fortune as a pioneer farmer and explorer.

He was born in Kent, England, to a well to do family who owned several estates. He was educated at The King’s School in Canterbury. In September 1805, after being encouraged by his friend Sir Joseph Banks to emigrate to Australia, he packed up his wife, three kids, a few sheep, seeds, bees, tools, and some groceries and set sail in the William Pitt to Sydney. As part of the deal the British government promised him land, convict servants and the journey for free. When he arrived in Sydney he sold most of what he had brought with him (except the wife and kids) and bought 80 head of cattle. Not long after he purchased a 450-acre property at the Brush Farm.

Gregory’s brother John arrived in the colony in 1807 and the pair caused quite a headache for Governor Philip Gidley King and later William Bligh as they thought themselves entitled to much more government assistance than what they received. Frustrated with the lack of pastoral land available for farmers, Gregory led an expedition across the Great Dividing Range (Blue Mountains) in 1813. Included in the party were  William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth.